While many athletes and coaches are typically resistant to rule changes, many local wrestling coaches around the Mahoning Valley could not be more pleased with how the sport has shifted at the high school level this season.

Earlier this year, the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) introduced three rule changes to high school wrestling across the country.

The first and most drastic difference is takedowns increasing in value from two points to three, while another points-based adjustment is that a wrestler can earn four points, up from three, while attempting to pin their opponent.

The final change is that now, only one point of contact between the two wrestlers needs to be inbounds. The NFHS said this “safely eliminates the subjectivity of the out-of-bounds call,” often a point of contention on takedown attempts on the edge of the mat.

The rule changes, among six area coaches polled, received unanimous approval and praise.

“I love everything about them,” Canfield head coach Craig Shaw said. “I think it keeps the pace of the match going faster. I think duals will be faster, matches will be faster. And who doesn’t like scoring? Everybody likes scoring.”

The effect on pace and aggression, in particular, was seen by the coaches as a major positive.

“I absolutely love them,” South Range’s Frank Giordano said. “It rewards the more aggressive wrestler now. Before, you take a guy down, it was only two points, and if you let him up, he got one. So it definitely rewards the more aggressive wrestler. And it’s also going to speed up tournaments and dual meets because there’s going to be a lot more tech falls. From a fan’s perspective, people are sitting in gyms for 12 hours [during tournaments] and it’s gonna speed things up.

“But we’ve embraced them. And I couldn’t be happier. I love it, because especially in Ohio, most of the matches are won from the neutral position and with a three-point takedown.”

Dan Andel, Garrettsville Garfield head coach, said he likes the additions as well, but he expressed concern at their potential effect on quality officiating.

“I just think that as a whole, the wrestling community needs good officials. Recruiting officials is basically the biggest problem — good officials — because they do it in a short window. You got kids and coaches that wrestle all year round and practice five days a week. It’s just tough to get somebody up to speed on stuff.”

Howland head coach Matt Zakrajsek also said that some rules, primarily the new point-of-contact change, will ultimately depend on the setting and, as a result, put greater emphasis on the referees.

“I think you’re gonna get dual-meet calls and tournament calls, especially with the out of bounds,” Zakrajsek said. “So in a tournament, you’re gonna have four or five, six mats going with a lot of action and you’re not going to have the room or space to wrestle close on the edge as much when action is coming at you. So I think that’s going to be a challenge on the officials.”

As for any potential additions or future changes, many of the coaches indicated they were content with the current rules as is. Andel, however, tentatively suggested another rule to further curb stalling.

“I guess the one thing, maybe, is a push out, — one point — like freestyle to keep encouraging kids [to wrestle] so you’re not stalling and just driving somebody out of bounds… That would be the only other thing, but that’s kind of stretching it.”